Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1887-10-15

row, but IN gladne0. Ror look. tho Lord. h
very mercful The - hAA given up IN daah.
and here is your son homo again, and n yoaf
alms!" 1HS END.
THE GHILZAI COUNTRY.
elcYcLER STEVENS VISIT TO A
CAMP OF AFGHANIsrAN NomAps.
In the lonely desert country east of
Kandahar are occasional amal GASES that
In the comparatively moist springtins at.
ford excellent grazing. Arriving at one
of these verdant areas, 1 observed herds
OF camels browsing peacefully on the
green young heritage, and pretty soon
calpe to u cluster Of about fifty black goat
hair tents. Tho tents were pitched in two
parallel rows along a stretch OF clean,
gravclly ground, slightly elevated above
the mud flats Of an adjacent alkaline sink.
The material of the tents was woven
goat hair, and the prevsiing shape com.
promise between tia Indian .tepee and an
ordinary wedge tsnt. The teut Of ths
chief stood out conspicuously from the
others by reason of its large size and the
superior material entering into Its con.
struction. A couple Of hundred yards
from the tents was a small spring of
water inclosed within q rude wall Of loosely
piled stones. The water was allowed to
percolate through this wall and accumu-
late in y basin outside. Here, as l rode
up, were several women filling goat skin
vessels to carry to the tents.
Some Of these women were picturesque
creatures, to say tho least, their radiance
consisting Of baggy Turkish trousers Of
brightest blue, and jackets Of equally
bright red. They also wore q p~rofusion Of
bcad necklaces and tho mullifare gew-
gaws 80 dear to the heart of semi-civilizcL
races in all parts of the world. A COLI
splcuOus ornament, and one that l had
not yet seen III Asia, was q small, beaded
Jewel attached to the left side of the nose,
apparently fastened there by means Of u
Ole bored through the cartilage. In
striking contrast to the gorgeous rainlents
affected by the females of the tribe were
the simple yet withal striking costumes Of
the men. AS I halted a moment TO Oh.
tain n drink Of water at the spring l could
SEQ these noble loafers emerging from the
shelter of the tents and standing in curl
oAONH"S ~JsA6 w kCAAoA UtV uAAO oSCSGV
OF my strange appearance and still
stranger mode Of locomotion. From bead
to foot tho Ghilzais wero clad In coarse
white cotton cloth; with their flowing
white garments and rude weapons they
lookcd like some strange community OF
warrior priests. On their heads wsre tall,
c0nical hats fancifully braided with GOLD
or silver thread. Enough white material to
make q bed sheet wound round about tho
lmse OF the cone COverted this headgear into
II regulation Afghan turban. Two feet or
thercabouts ut one end of the turbmn was
left dangling down the wearer's back.
On their arms they wore bracelets Of
plain copper wire about the size Of or
binary telegraph wire. Some Of tho men
Wore rs mnny us half u dozen OF ;hesv
rude 0rnumcnts-threo on each wrist,
Some OF their feet were incascd IN r,,do
sandals OF Unframed gOatskin; others re-
Jolccd IN the possession of red leather slip
per like footgear with pointed toes, OBJ
tanned from the bnZnrs of kundahur or
Bccrjand. The chief sIortcl IN elaborate
pair of 1lindostnni shoes, the fronts Of
which We're fancifully ornamentcd with
patterns in gold thread. In all other par
tiClllars his costume was the counterpart
of those about him.
The GhilZais are among the most fnuati-
cal OF tho Afghan tribes, and as l rode IN
and dismOnnted at the tent of the chief.
tain that worthy champion Of Islam
colorcd up US red a u beet with embar-
rassmcnt. With the quick intuition and
ready penetration that come Of long and
varying association with tho strange Ieo-
pies OF Central Asia, the changing countc.
nance Of the Ghilzai chief impressed mo
as the fiery signal Of inbred Mussulman
fnnuticis1n lighting up spontaneously ut
the sudden appearance OF u Ecrcnghi In
his presence and power. He invited me
INTO his tent with u brusquc, half angry
gesture, that was probably due more TO
his embarrassment than To voluntary dis
courtesy; for, to give the devil his due.
one great rc%declning feature of ull these
wandering Asiatic tribes is their hospi.
tality to strangers.
Gathered about the door of every tent
were women and children gazing curl
ously and with much wOndermcnt at the
strangers marvellous asp.i-awhen iron
horse, standing up against the tent pole
OF their chicftain's quarters. The smooth,
hard, gravclly elevation. was in cyery
respect suitable for bicycling; and so, To
crafty the curiosity OF the whole wonder.
ing camp, 1 rode several times back and
forth the entire length OF the tented street.
My appearance among them was the six.
nal for ordering the slaughter Of n fat
young goat, SO that the chief might enter.
tain the stranger in u hospitablc aud be-
coming manne The evening meal con.
sisted OF pancake like sheets Of unleaveued
bread, boiled goat, mast and doke. A
liberal bowl Of the broth from the boiled
goat meat. an abundance Of bread, meat.
mast and dokc wero placed before ME on
a wooden tray on the ground. The chief
and several Of his men gathered around a
communal spread Of the sumo dishes.
The Ghilzai chief invited me to begin
eating with q grave and dignified "Bismil.
lal." Knives and forks were, Of course,
conspicuous by their absence: the GhiIzai
cats entirely with his fingers. At my re.
quest l was provided with Il rude wooden
the only implement in the fOrp, OF a
spoon that the camp was able to produce.
Everybody watched ME with intense inter-
est to sec what particular use l was going
to make Of the ladle. a look OF curious
~incrcdulity came over their faces, us il I'M.
able to believe the evidence OF their own
eyes, when l began using 1t for drinking
the broth. These rude children o. the
Afghan deserts watched me drink broth
OF a ladle with intense curiosity. At
their table l was equally curious 10 OBJ
serve their " particular mode Of eating.
Everybody first proceeded to tear tho
sheets Of bread into little pieces and put
them into the big bowl OF broth. This was
pressed down and worked about with the
hand until the broth was pretty thoroughly
soaked up. Everybody then helped them
selves to liberal mouthfuls OF the saturated
bread, rolling it into sizable balls for pop
ping in the mouth. The mass was dipped
With small uipce. ~ broad aud ,,orooI